Sophie's paper: Hollaback!
What is Hollaback? Hollaback! is an online activist movement with the goal of ending street harassment for good. It all began with a woman on the subway who snapped a cell phone picture of a man who was harassing her (openly masturbating and creeping her out). Her original intent was to go to the police however, when they offered no help, she decided instead to take matters into her own hands and posted the photo online for everyone to see. The photo circulated like wildfire and as a result, other victims of street harassment began to take pictures of their harassers and post them on the web. The goal was to turn the lens on the attacker rather than the victim. In 2005, 3 young men and 4 young women, inspired by the stories of people across the globe, came up with Hollaback! as a space on the internet where people across the world could share their stories of street harassment and create a safe space where victims could see that they are not alone and turn the attention on their harassers. The website even allows you to map where the harassment took place by using mobile technologies. Today, Hollaback! has reached out to 64 cities in 22 countries and the movement continues to grow as it receives more attention. The internet has opened up new ways for activists to spread the word of their causes and gain international attention. Hollaback! ''may not end street harrassment immediately, nonetheless, it is a step in the right direction. Peer-to-peer websites don't just have to be about sharing videos, recipes, and reviews, but also can be a different kind of cultural production system where sharing experiences and stories can open up a discourse in ending discrimination in our this age's urbanized world. This is done in the hopes of creating a safe space in both the digital and physical world and fits in with the rest of the cultural production systems talked about in Yonchai Benkler's ''The Wealth of Networks. Gendered spaces in the digital world Hollaback! is a feminist technology that was designed specifically for women and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer (LGBTQ) community to fight back against street harrassment. Therefore, this website has a kind of exclusivity to it, where you can participate and contribute--so long as you have the experiences of a woman or someone apart of the LGBTQ community. This however, may not be such a bad thing considering the disapointingly low levels of female participation on the internet. The New York times reported in 2011 that only 13% of Wikipedia's contributors were female. Hollaback! allows female users express themselves against sexism and discrimination while at the same time contibuting to the cultural production of the virtual world. Hollaback! has created a digital community where women and LGBTQ members can come together and support eachother. Collaborating by sharing eachother's stories ultimately creates a safe space where victims can feel a sense of belonging as if they are members of a greater community that goes beyond their physical lives and into the digital universe. If you don't have anything nice to say... GTFO Much like other knowledge sharing websites, Hollaback! has regulators that are meant to check the content being posted and make sure that it is appropriate. This is especially important for a website like Hollaback! which aspires to uphold a safe space where victims of street harrassment can feel comfortable sharing their experiences. Hollaback!'s commet policy states, "If you feel a desire to want to leave a comment along the lines of “you deserve it,” or “you’re a bitch/slut/ho” try slapping some sense into yourself instead, cause we’re not listening (or posting) that nonsense". If people start commenting sexist/racist/offensive comments on the stories being posted--victims might be hesitant of sharing out of fear of being judged or''' 'shamed even further. Content posted by users can receive accredation by having other collaborators "like" posts by clicking on "I"ve got your back!". This allows for the users themselves to have some control over the regulation of the site by deciding which content is more relevant and at the same time support their virtual friends. While these regulators are not paid to help run the website since it is a not for profit movement, they can feel as though they are apart of the cause. Why should I care? Why is it that so many people have taken the time to write out their stories of harrassment on ''Hollaback!'s website? Similar to websites like Amazon and Yelp, its users are providing a type of free labour--taking the time to post content and contribute to the overall website without expecting to be compensated. Hollaback! is a "crowd sourced initiative" and therefore functions off of the women and LGBTQ members across the world who participate on the website. There are several reasons why victims could feel the need to contribute to the website. For example, victims could feel angry and frustrated about the situation and want an outlet to vent--kind of like someone who goes to a bad restaurant and wants to post a bad review on Yelp. One thing is clear, and that is that each one of these users must be united by the overarching goal that is ending street harrassment. Websites like Wikipedia require their contributors to adhere to "a particular style of writing and describing concepts that is far from intuitive or natural to people."(Benkler, 73). And so the contributors of Wikipedia all have to be on the same frequency as people who take pleasure in writing and making contributions towards the largest online encyclopedia. Similarly, contributors on Hollaback! must all have similar feminist ideologies and enjoy contributing as activists to the movement. Hollaback! as a cultural production system The examples demonstrated in Yonchai Benkler's Wealth of Networks are all "examples where individuals pool their time, experience, wisdom, and creativity to form new informaton, knowledge, and cultural goods." (Benkler, 81). Hollaback! also fits into this category as an anti-discriminatory movement functioning off of the contributors across the world who take the time to share their knowledge and experiences. The end result is a feminist tool that can help spread the word to end sexist, racist, and classist discrimination in the corners of the world where the internet reaches. Not to mention, the data collected from the site is being extracted and used in studies that analyze street harrassment's statistics. This feminist cultural product manifested thanks to the invention of the internet and mobile technologies. The convergence of these two systems (mobile phones and the internet) has allowed for an easy way for contributors to document their harrassment experiences and share them with the world. With the rise of these technologies, people are finding creative and collaborative ways to fight back. Sources http://www.ihollaback.org/ http://www.thecoast.ca/binary/c692/hollaback.jpg http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/business/media/31link.html Yochai Benkler, 2006. The Wealth of Networks, Yale UP. Chapter 3